“Hey.  Did you eat?  Ben and I are going to grab something.  Can we bring something home for you? Okay.  We should be there in about 15 minutes.”

She smiled at Ben.  “I feel guilty about leaving him home alone while I’m out having all of this adventure.  I guess I kinda need to know my baby’s all right.  Can we swing by Popeye’s?”

Ben had the habit of holding her hand while he drove and he gave her a little squeeze.  “Just another of many the reasons I love you.  You’re a great Mom.  Of course we can swing by and get food.  I’ve noticed that he’s got his head in the fridge all of the time lately.  Must be having a growing spurt or something.”  He shook his head.  Jamie was already as tall as he was and close to Ben’s weight.  He hoped he wasn’t having a growing spurt.

“You know, it’s a very strange phenomenon when your child grows taller than you are.  I’ve been looking up to see him in the face since he was 13.”

They got home with chicken and Jamie dug in like he hadn’t eaten in days.  It took a couple of minutes, but he finally noticed that neither Ben nor Lane seemed very hungry.

“Aren’t you guys going to eat?”

Lane pulled out a chicken breast and put it on her plate.  “So, you know Rochelle, the receptionist at Dr. Andersen’s office?”

Jamie nodded and continued eating.

Ben picked up the story.  “Well, she showed up at my house this evening.”

Jamie stopped eating and looked at Ben.  Some random woman had gone to Ben’s and neither he nor Mom was eating.  This wasn’t good.

“God, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to tell you.”

Yep, this wasn’t good.  The muscles in Jamie’s jaw clenched.

“She held me at gun point because she saw your Mom’s engagement ring today.  Your mom was on the phone and heard the whole thing.  She called Detective McGuire.  Rochelle has been arrested and we suspect she killed Carol Anne.”

Jamie looked from Ben to Lane.  Another hostage situation.  At least it wasn’t his Mom this time, but she’d been involved.  Where the hell was Jess when you needed her?  Jetting toward L.A. that’s where.  He looked at the clock.  She’d be landing in Minneapolis any minute now.  But everyone was okay and she had that audition she needed to concentrate on.  He’d call Jake.  After he finished eating.

Chapter 20

Why so many Exes

Lila interviewed Rochelle Jones at length.  No doubt about it, she had a screw loose.  Mick McGuire had Mirandized her, and she had waived her right to counsel.

“Rochelle, where were you at one o’clock last Friday afternoon?”

Rochelle closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate before answering.  “Well, Dr. Andersen has Friday afternoons off, so the office was closed.”

“Yes, but where were you?” Lila asked.

“I usually have an appointment with Dr. Conrad on Friday afternoons, but she cancelled last week.”

“Who is Dr. Conrad?”

“Dr. Liza Conrad.  She’s my psychologist.”

~~~~~

Ben was in his office preparing for a trial that was scheduled to start Jury selection the next day.  His admin buzzed him.

“There’s a Dr. Liza Conrad on line one for you.  Something about one of her patients.”

Liza.  He hadn’t talked to Liza in what was it, four years?  No that wasn't right.  He and Lane had run into her and her date at Papa’s a few months ago.  He’d introduced Lane as his “friend” and told Liza it was nice to see her again. Then he’d put his hand in the small of Lane’s back and guided her to the Board Room.  Lane had asked him that night why he’d never been married.  He said he couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life with any of them.  There was only one woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

He pushed the speaker button.  “Liza.  What can I do for you?”

“I understand you were involved in an altercation of sorts with one of my patients.  Rochelle Jones.”

“Rochelle is your patient?  I guess you could call it an altercation.  She broke into my house and held me at gun point while she professed her undying love.  Luckily I was on the phone with my fiancée who overheard the entire conversation and had the presence of mind to call a Leawood detective friend.”

“Fiancée?  Some lucky woman has finally snagged you, huh?  Congratulations.”  Liza was genuinely happy for him, but she couldn’t afford to get distracted.  “Listen, she’s being held as a suspect in the murder of Carol Anne Woods.  Ben, I know she didn’t do it.  You’re the best criminal defense attorney in the metro.”  She paused.

What the hell, surely Liza didn’t call him to ask him to represent Rochelle.

She heard him take a deep breath.  She imagined the look on his face and what he was thinking.  “I didn’t call to ask you to represent her.  I know you can’t do that after what she did.  But I was hoping you could recommend someone.”

He knew there was a good chance a defense attorney could easily build an insanity defense.  There was something that niggled at the back of his mind.  Yes, she’d come to his house with a gun, but the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that she hadn’t planned to use it.  And she had come to his house, she hadn’t gone after Lane.  She hadn’t threatened to kill him, none of that “if I can’t have you then no one can.”  What would it hurt to recommend someone?

“Sure.  No one from my firm, but I can give you a couple of names.”  Maybe Rochelle was innocent of Carol Anne’s murder.

Ben gave her the names of two different firms who could easily handle the case.  But she could have gotten that information from anyone.  “Was there anything else you wanted, Liza?”

“Yes, well, I may need to retain you myself.  You see, I cancelled Rochelle’s appointment last Friday and I’m afraid before Detective Crane is finished, she’ll be accusing me of Carol Anne Woods’ murder.  We knew each other.  You know from the stalking.  I was supposed to meet her for lunch at the Club that afternoon.”

Ben shook his head and ran his hand through his hair.  What was going on?  Ex-girlfriend Carol Anne Woods is killed; ex-girlfriend Lila Crane is investigating; current girlfriend, no fiancée, Lane Parker is accused; and ex-girlfriend Liza Conrad may be the new suspect.  If he wasn’t careful, someone would make this whole thing be about him.  Cops and criminal attorneys really don’t believe in coincidence.

“All right, let me buzz my admin and she can make an appointment for you.  I’d rather get the facts now than after Lila has arrested you.”

He buzzed his admin and told her to make the appointment for as soon as possible.  That afternoon if Liza could make it.

He called Lane’s office.  He just wanted to hear her voice.  What had she told him Sunday?  She didn’t need a blanket confession, she only needed to know about ex-girlfriends if there was some impact on her life now.  He thought this qualified.

Meg answered the phone.  “Hi Meg.  It’s Ben.  Is Lane in?”

When Meg met Ben a month ago, she had told Lane he was tall dark and oh my God handsome.  She still thought that, but at the time she had had no one in her life and she had been a little jealous that Lane had two tall dark and handsome men in her life.  Now she was dating Lane’s oldest son who was tall handsome and fair.

“She’s in a meeting.  May I have her call you?”

“Sure, tell her it’s nothing important, I just need to hear her voice.”

“Will do.  By the way, congratulations on the engagement.”

Ben thanked her and ended the call.  His admin buzzed him to tell him she’d scheduled Liza for his last appointment of the day, 4:30.  He thanked her and went back to reviewing his notes for jury selection.

It was nearly an hour later when his cell phone buzzed.  “Red.  How’s your morning going?”  They’d been apart less than 12 hours and he’d spent some of that time sleeping, but he still missed her like crazy.